COBALT BRAND NEW 10 YEAR HIGH….Article–China’s Cobalt Conundrum in Congo

Feb 16, 2018

Article on China, Congo and Cobalt:

https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/china-s-cobalt-conundrum-congo

More than half of the cobalt that goes into phone batteries and electric vehicles worldwide – 66,000 of 123,000 tons produced in 2016 – is sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Global demand is expanding rapidly. But lawmakers in Kinshasa have decided to cash in, targeting Western and Chinese mining companies with hotly disputed mining sector reforms.

The new laws, finalised in the past fortnight, will subject mining companies, such as Glencore and China Molybdenum, to added royalties and tax hikes on metals including cobalt. Executives from these companies furiously lobbied President Joseph Kabila on the measures, to no avail. Given the political situation in the DRC, though, the laws may not represent the greatest risk to global cobalt supplies.  (FULL STORY BELOW)

Cruz has 9 cobalt projects only in North America.  Has more cash on hand than any other point and is active on multiple cobalt projects.  Cruz is one of the single largest landholders in the Cobalt District of Ontario.

Cruz currently has nine cobalt projects located throughout North America, comprising of five in Ontario, two in British Columbia, one in Idaho and one in Montana. Cruz’s five separate Ontario cobalt prospects are all located in the vicinity of the town of Cobalt making Cruz one of the largest landholders in this emerging cobalt district. Cruz’s Ontario projects include the 1,265 acre Coleman cobalt prospect, the 900 acre Johnson cobalt prospect, the 4,980 acre Hector cobalt prospect, the 1,580 acre Bucke cobalt prospect and now the 10,556 Lorraine cobalt prospect. The company’s BC prospects include the 15,219 acre War Eagle cobalt prospect and the 11,821 acre Purcell prospect. Cruz’s USA projects include the 1,940 acre Chicken Hawk prospect in Montana and the 880 acre Idaho Star prospect. 

Cobalt Prices are at new 10 Year highs today:

Cobalt price 5-year _37.19.png

CUZ:TSX.v | BKTPF:USA | A2DMG8:Germany

 

Cruz Cobalt Corp. Significantly Increases Land Holdings in the Cobalt Region of Ontario 

Cruz Cobalt Corp. (CUZ—TSXv, BKTPF—OTCBB, A2DMG8–FSE) is pleased to announce that the company has increased its acreage in the Cobalt District of Ontario.  The new acreage is contiguous to the “Lorraine Cobalt Prospect” and now consists of 10,556 contiguous acres bordering First Cobalt Corp. (FCC-TSX.v) in the direct vicinity of the town of Cobalt, Ontario.

Cruz President, James Nelson, stated, “We are pleased to further expand our acreage in the historic cobalt camp in Ontario. Cruz is one of the single largest landholders behind First Cobalt Corp (FCC-TSX.v) with 5 separate cobalt prospects in the region. We feel that consolidation of the cobalt camps globally is inevitable and we are positioning Cruz to be a significant participant in the emerging Ontario Cobalt District.  We plan to be very active in Ontario in 2018.  The price per pound of cobalt has again made a new 10-year high this week, and cobalt has never been more in focus as the world is moving towards full scale electric car adoption.  The demand for battery metals appears to be at the start of long term super cycle and Cruz is positioning itself early for this cycle.”

cruz ontario map feb.jpg

Recently (January 22, 2018) Cruz increased its acreage on the “Purcell Cobalt Prospect” from 671 acres to 11,821 acres, consolidating the previous two separate Purcell prospects into one much larger contiguous prospect. Also on January 16, 2018 Cruz increased its landholdings surrounding the War Eagle cobalt prospect in BC. Cruz now has a 100% interest in 15,219 acres on the War Eagle cobalt prospect.   Cruz also just recently completed an airborne survey over the War Eagle and Purcell cobalt prospects in BC and uncovered strong magnetic anomalies (announced January 19, 2018). Management is now working diligently on advancing these two BC cobalt prospects.

Cruz currently has nine cobalt projects located throughout North America, comprising of five in Ontario, two in British Columbia, one in Idaho and one in Montana. Cruz’s five separate Ontario cobalt prospects are all located in the vicinity of the town of Cobalt making Cruz one of the largest landholders in this emerging cobalt district. Cruz’s Ontario projects include the 1,265 acre Coleman cobalt prospect, the 900 acre Johnson cobalt prospect, the 4,980 acre Hector cobalt prospect, the 1,580 acre Bucke cobalt prospect and now the 10,556 Lorraine cobalt prospect. The company’s BC prospects include the 15,219 acre War Eagle cobalt prospect and the 11,821 acre Purcell prospect. Cruz’s USA projects include the 1,940 acre Chicken Hawk prospect in Montana and the 880 acre Idaho Star prospect.

The technical contents of this release were approved by Greg Thomson, PGeo, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

If you would like to be added to Cruz’s email list please send an email to [email protected] or twitter @CruzCobalt

James Nelson
President
604.899.9150
Toll free 1.855.599.9150

www.cruzcobaltcorp.com
twitter @CruzCobalt


 

Cobalt price 5-year _37.19.png 

 

 

 

Below is the historical Lithium price (USD$) per metric tonne

 

 Lithium price jan -18.png

 As you can see in the map below, Cruz Cobalt also has exposure to the lithium market through its property that is strategically located in the Clayton Valley of Nevada with access to deepest parts of the only lithium brine basin in production in North America.

 

 

 clayton valley.jpg

 

Planned Lithium-Ion Battery Megafactories:

 

gigafactory 2018.png

China’s cobalt conundrum in Congo

Article:

China’s Cobalt Conundrum in the Congo

https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/china-s-cobalt-conundrum-congo

More than half of the cobalt that goes into phone batteries and electric vehicles worldwide – 66,000 of 123,000 tons produced in 2016 – is sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Global demand is expanding rapidly. But lawmakers in Kinshasa have decided to cash in, targeting Western and Chinese mining companies with hotly disputed mining sector reforms.

The new laws, finalised in the past fortnight, will subject mining companies, such as Glencore and China Molybdenum, to added royalties and tax hikes on metals including cobalt. Executives from these companies furiously lobbied President Joseph Kabila on the measures, to no avail. Given the political situation in the DRC, though, the laws may not represent the greatest risk to global cobalt supplies.

The more pressing danger may instead be Kabila himself. The DRC is undergoing a period of upheaval which could upend not only the Congolese mining industry but also the fabric of its society. Mining firms and their customers, especially in China, have good reason to worry about their access to Congolese cobalt.

China’s cobalt conundrum

In the past decade, China has cemented a dominant position across Africa by supplanting the West as a leading trading partner, investor, and lender to African states. China likes to frame these relationships as examples of “solidarity between developing nations”; however, episodes such as the reported bugging of the Chinese-built African Union headquarters cast a shadow over Beijing’s stance of non-interference.

Even so, in contrast to the typical Western pressure exerted on African institutions in exchange for access to finance and aid, if African leaders advance Chinese influence then China is typically more than happy to leave them alone.

Nowhere is the complexity of Chinese involvement more pronounced than in the DRC. Kabila himself trained at the PLA National Defence University in Beijing and has been a reliable ally for China. Many of the instruments used by his security apparatus were supplied by Beijing. Chinese largesse also creates opportunities for corruption. Reports allege that hundreds of millions of dollars went missing from the Chinese–Congolese joint venture Sicomines.

Kabila’s desperate power play

Kabila has ruled since 2001, amassing a fortune for his family and allies at the expense of an increasingly angry and restive population. A Congo Research Group investigation last year revealed the Congolese president and his siblings to be at the heart of an opaque web of companies with hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and significant stakes in the mining sector. Another investigation by Global Witness found that a fifth of the country’s mining revenues – $750 million – was lost to corruption between 2013 and 2015.

With this track record, it’s likely much of the new tax revenue Congolese lawmakers want from overseas firms will meet the same fate.

Kabila has gone to great lengths to keep that money flowing into his pockets, with national elections in 2005 and 2011 producing widely disputed results. The constitution’s two-term limit should have seen Kabila step down in 2016. Instead, he has engaged in glissement – citing logistical difficulties and budgetary constraints to delay new elections indefinitely.

Inside the country, Kabila’s power grab has provoked mass protests and a growing climate of unrest. Each demonstration sees security forces target civilians with impunity. Kabila’s forces killed several protesters during Catholic Church–organised demonstrations in late January. This comes against a backdrop of grave humanitarian crises, with four million people displaced by armed conflict with rebel groups and skyrocketing numbers affected by cholera.

The ructions have also created a situation that threatens to jeopardise China’s interests. The DRC is an indispensable cobalt supplier for China, the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer and largest electric vehicle market. If the Congolese political crisis destabilises the country, it could disrupt China’s vital supply of cobalt.

Opposition figures hope international pressure will force Kabila to allow free and fair elections. Favored challenger Moïse Katumbi, the onetime governor of Katanga province and architect of that region’s economic development, enjoys respect from the mining industry but is operating from exile amidst the ongoing crackdown. Most of the opposition efforts focus on the West, but will it be China and the changing paradigm of Chinese foreign policy that ultimately determine the course of events on the Congolese stage?

A Congolese test for changing Chinese policies

Xi Jinping’s efforts to push China centre stage have already seen Beijing exert more active pressure on its African partners. In Zimbabwe, where long-time China ally Robert Mugabe was forced out of power, speculation is rife he was overthrown with tacit support from Beijing. The commander who presided over the rebellion had just returned from a trip to China.

If true, this signals a shift in China’s non-interference policy and may indicate a new willingness to assume the role of kingmaker if leaders overstay their welcome and become bad for business. If China decides Kabila’s tenure has become too costly for its own vital interests, will it cut support and back Western calls for him to step down? Beyond a marked shift in policy, that step could create a rare opportunity to pursue shared interests between China and the West in Africa.

In time, Chinese policymakers and businesses may come to find Western demands for institutional transparency – that Beijing writes off as cover for neocolonialism – align with their own needs for stable politics that protect their vital trade interests..

 

Related Posts

Tags

Share This